From Canterbury to the Superbowl and missile defence

Otago Daily Times – A Kiwi American football star turned missile defence advocate paid tribute to a rugby legend forebear in Dunedin this week.

Three-time Superbowl winner Riki Ellison, the first New Zealander to play in the National Football League (NFL), visited the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in Dunedin on Monday.

He was joined by his second-cousin, Otakou farmer and kaumatua Edward Ellison.

While there he viewed the display on his ancestor, Tom Ellison, the captain of New Zealand’s first official rugby team when it toured Australia in 1893, and donated a shirt from his playing days.

He also visited Tom Ellison’s grave at Otakou on the Otago Peninsula, and registered himself, his children and grandchildren at Otakou marae, including son Rhett who plays in the NFL as a tight-end for the New York Giants.